70 volunteers plant flags on vets' graves throughout Taunton

TAUNTON — Volunteers from Taunton showed their patriotism by planting American flags in front of veterans’ graves throughout Mayflower Cemetery on Sunday morning.

The event attracted 70 volunteers, despite a rain delay on Saturday that postponed plans, to plant the flags in time for Memorial Day next week. Wielding maps and piles of flags, the volunteers planted about 1,200 flags within a few hours on Sunday.

“I think it’s really important to make sure we continue to honor the veterans of the city,” said Deb Marini, who came with a group of volunteers from Taunton Federal Credit Union. “So many volunteers came out, it’s amazing. Especially when it was originally postponed. It’s a whole family event. It’s nice to see.”

“I just saw it in the paper that they needed volunteers to help out,” Larson said. “Any chance to help out a vet or give back a little, you should give back, and pay some respect. We have a large military family. I think it’s important to teach the kids respect and memorializing and understanding what it means.”

Richard Henriques, who is not a veteran but respects the cause, was there with his wife.

“I never got drafted, got married and had kids, and never served,” Henriques said. “This is my way of paying my respect.”

The flag placement is organized by Taunton’s Veterans Memorial Marker Committee, the group that organized a campaign in recent years to buy and place metal memorial markers at graves of the 7,000 veterans buried in the city. The markers provide a place holder for flags, making the volunteer flag placement efforts easier.

“This is unbelievable,” said Donald French, World War II Veteran and a founding member of the Veterans Memorial Marker Committee. “I’m amazed. When we predicted rain, I said, 'I hope they can come on Sunday.' I think the whole of Taunton is a very patriotic city. The volunteers also come to our fundraiser and they can’t help out enough.”